Everton’s big-haired Belgian Marouane Fellaini scored one goal and then created another for Nikica Jelavic to turn the game on its head in the space of just over 120 seconds.

David Moyes felt his high-flying Everton side deserved their victory, and he could point to the stats and make a case.

However, Sunderland will also feel they deserved at least a point from the game.

They took the lead and – those two crazy minutes apart – coped reasonably comfortably with everything Everton threw at them, the defence marshalled superbly by John O’Shea.

Coming on the back of such a disappointing start to the campaign, losing in these circumstances came as a real kick in the teeth for Martin O’Neill and his side.

However, while the result did nothing to lift the mood on Wearside, there were at least genuine positives for O’Neill to take out of this game – unlike in the dismal back-to-back home defeats against Middlesbrough in the cup and then last weekend against Aston Villa in the league.

Because this was arguably Sunderland’s best performance of the season to date.

They looked a threat on the break, managed to get shots on target, scored one goal – and should have scored more.

The form – or lack of it – of Sunderland’s creative trio of Johnson, Stephane Sessegnon and James McClean has been a major headache for O’Neill in the first quarter of the season and has been reflected in the fact the Black Cats remain the top flight's lowest scorers with just seven goals in 10 games. However, on Saturday Sessegnon returned to something resembling the form which earned him last season’s Player of the Year award.

Johnson’s response to being left out of the England squad was to turn in a much-improved display and score his first goal since his summer move from Manchester City.

They say the time to worry is when you are not creating chances and that has been Sunderland's problem of late.

At least at the weekend they began to create again.

Sessegnon was denied by the goalkeeper in a one-on-one with Tim Howard and Steven Fletcher rolled a shot across the face of goal and agonisingly wide, both in the first 10 minutes.

O'Neill said: “We should have won.Everton could not have complained if they had been 3-0 down at half-time.”

Of course football is a results business and Sunderland’s record reads one win in their last 18 league games, the Wearsiders still hovering uncomfortably close to the relegation zone.

However, in the embers of this defeat should be seen progress – of a kind.

VERDICT: A better performance by Sunderland, just a shame about the result.